How to Brake on a Bike

Video Transcript

KEVIN LIVINGSTON: Hi. I'm Kevin Livingston. Let's look at braking using your brakes properly on your bike. You have a front brake on your left side and your rear brake on the right side. A general tendency is to be a little bit hesitant about using that front brake but the front brake is actually your braking power. It accounts for a lot of the stopping power of the bike. Think about it though to begin. Think about using both brakes to stop. So, whether you're coming to a stop at the stop sign or you're descending and you need to slow your speed, think about braking evenly and squeezing the brakes as you brake so that you don't have a sudden jerk or change in speed. If you have a sudden change of speed in a turn, this could cause your bike to lose traction. If you brake too hard with the front while coming to a stop, this could cause the bike to go up on the front wheel and to go over the handlebars. If you're in a situation where you need to apply the brakes rapidly and slow quickly, think about grabbing both brakes, squeezing and keep your weight back and down and low. As long as you keep your weight back and low, this will allow you to use that front brake more which is really a big component or percentage of your stopping power on a bike. So my three tips to think about when braking; brake evenly, use both of your front and rear brake, squeeze the brakes, try to avoid grabbing the brakes too suddenly or too hard, and keep your weight back and low on the saddle. This will help keep transaction and help you when coming to a stop or negotiating a windy descent or windy road.